Buddies Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The staff at the pre-school are patient, kind and very caring. They are experienced and understand how young children learn and develop. Staff provide children with exciting and challenging activities which cover all curriculum areas. Children enjoy their time at the pre-school and are confident and self-assured. Staff are highly responsive to children's needs. They follow children's fascinations with vehicles and play dough, ensuring that these resources are available when they arrive. This motivates and inspires children to learn and helps new children to settle quickly. Children show good levels of independence as they explore their environment.

Staff provide good support for children's communication and language development. For example, children love talking about their experiences, such as going to London and riding their bicycles. Children also develop early, secure reading skills. For instance, they eagerly repeat familiar phrases and learn words while engaging in a story about a bear hunt. Children use words and phrases, such as 'deep, cold river' and 'sloshy mud' to describe the story setting.

Children exhibit good behaviours. They develop positive relationships with staff and their peers. Children also learn about safety through everyday activities and routines. For instance, older children know not to run indoors and to take turns during their play. This is part of the staff's efforts to ensure that children play safely and follow the behavioural boundaries in the pre-school. Children gain the skills they need to help them with the next stage in their learning, including school.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff's observations and assessments of children's learning and development are accurate and focused. This provides staff with the necessary information to plan what children need to learn next. This helps to ensure that all children, including children in receipt of additional funding, make good progress from their starting points in development.
• Staff skilfully use children's play to develop their understanding of mathematics. For example, as children use shape cutters with dough, staff encourage them to name simple shapes. Children use language associated with size, such as 'tall', 'bigger' and 'small', as they build towers with construction blocks.
• Staff provide good support to help children to learn how to manage their behaviour. They remind them to be kind and about taking turns fairly. This helps children to work together and to respect each other. For instance, children collaborate to build roads and tracks for their favourite vehicles. They develop good negotiation and problem-solving skills as they figure out how to lay the construction bricks and mats to create the track. Children are highly motivated and persevere with challenging tasks.
• Staff support children's physical development effectively. Children benefit from daily outdoor activities in the small pre-school garden and the adjoining park. For example, children climb, play ball and ride wheeled toys. Additionally, staff ensure that children strengthen their small muscles while exploring malleable materials such as sand, paint and play dough.
• Children generally gain a good understanding of healthy living. For instance, they learn about the importance of regular their brushing and and staff provide with healthy snacks. However, staff do not consistently monitor whether the meals in children's packed lunches are healthy, to support children's understanding of health eating further.
• Leaders regularly monitor staff's practice to ensure good-quality teaching, such as through regular supervision meetings. Staff report they feel supported by leaders and have access to valuable learning opportunities. For instance, staff have attended training in mindfulness for young children, which positively impacts children's emotional well-being and self-regulation.
• Partnerships with parents and other settings, such as local schools, are well established. Parents and carers speak highly of the pre-school and praise the friendly and caring staff. They comment on how well staff support their children's interests and needs. This promotes continuity in children's care and learning.
• Staff use creative methods to communicate children's accomplishments to their parents effectively. For example, they organise 'stay and play' sessions where parents can discuss their child's progress with the key person. However, they do not further enrich children's learning by involving parents and carers more in their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that the contents of children's packed lunches and snacks promote their understanding of healthy eating even further
• enhance children's learning potential by engaging parents and carers more in their children's learning at home.